The election results are now well over a month in, and come January President-Elect Donald Trump will take office. Prior to his win, healthcare was a hot topic for the election, including the candidates—where both Trump and Clinton had expressed fundamentally opposite views on the Affordable Care Act. Clinton wanted to keep it; Trump wanted to repeal it. Like the candidates, the country shares mixed views of the ACA, per a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The KFF provided results following a poll taken one week after the 2016 Presidential election results. The findings were revealing, as 60% of the public supports the ACA’s mandate that ALEs must offer healthcare or pay a penalty. The split of that 60% includes 55% Democrats and Independents, 45% Republicans.
The public’s opinion on how healthcare swayed their vote was also divided. While 68% felt healthcare was a major factor in their vote, only 8% felt it was the greatest factor. Further, 7% of Trump supporters claimed that healthcare was their biggest factor in their votes, while 10% of Clinton supporters claimed it was the biggest factor in theirs.
In a 6-year breakdown of the public opinion on the ACA, the sentiment from the public continues to be divided. It’s been an up and down series of opinions, where at the passing of the underlying bill in 2010, 50% had a favorable opinion of it and 35% had an unfavorable one. By November of 2016, roughly 45% had an unfavorable opinion, 43% had a favorable one, and about 11% had no opinion or refused to express theirs.
Since his election, Trump himself has expressed contradictory plans for an ACA repeal with the recent statement that he wants to keep the “good parts.” This may be reflective of the public view, which continues to remain mixed in the ACA’s fate. 26% want the law repealed in its entirety, 17% want to keep it but dial back on it, 30% want to expand upon the law, and 19% want it to stay the same.
Trump supporters as their own subsection of the poll have a 50-50 split on the ACA repeal, where 50% want it gone completely, yet the other half are comprised mainly of those who want to scale back on the law and a small part who want it either expanded upon or remain the same.
It’s certainly a mixed bag of opinions that may or may not change once Trump solidifies his stance on his plans for healthcare.
To view the KFF survey, click here.